Dizzying Heights: Tokyo's future skyline could include a mile-high skyscraper

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Photos:A look at Tokyo's mile-high skyscraper

Sky Mile Tower, Tokyo – A proposal for a skyscraper in Tokyo has been revealed. Part of a vision for a mega-city in Tokyo for 2045 -- the building -- aptly named Sky Mile Tower could climb a mile high.

Sky Mile Tower, Tokyo – The futuristic city adapts to the impact of climate change.

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Photos:A look at Tokyo's mile-high skyscraper

Sky Mile Tower, Tokyo – The impressive structure will stand at 5,577 feet tall -- twice the height of the Burj Khalifa, which is currently the world's tallest building.

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Photos:A look at Tokyo's mile-high skyscraper

Sky Mile Tower, Tokyo – In the proposal, the skyscraper would be a part of a greater eco-district. Urban-farm plots would float in the surrounding waters.

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Photos:A look at Tokyo's mile-high skyscraper

Sky Mile Tower, Tokyo – Open-air sky decks are found at different levels of the building.

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Photos:A look at Tokyo's mile-high skyscraper

Jeddah Tower, Jeddah – While there are no plans to fund or construct the Sky Mile Tower yet, other buildings in the world, have been breaking height records. In December 2015, plans were revealed for the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia. It is currently under construction and is working towards the title of world's tallest building -- at 1-kilometer high.

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Photos:A look at Tokyo's mile-high skyscraper

Jeddah Tower, Jeddah – It is expected to be 3,280-feet tall and its projected completion is 2020.

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Photos:A look at Tokyo's mile-high skyscraper

Burj Khalifa, Dubai – The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is currently the world's tallest building.

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Photos:A look at Tokyo's mile-high skyscraper

Burj Khalifa, Dubai – It was crowned the title in 2010 and is 2,717 feet tall.

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Photos:A look at Tokyo's mile-high skyscraper

432 Park Avenue, New York – In January, a residential building in New York became the world's 100th supertall building. Supertall buildings are classified as those over 300-meters high.

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Photos:A look at Tokyo's mile-high skyscraper

432 Park Avenue, New York – It towers at 1,396 feet tall.

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Story highlights

"Next Tokyo 2045" presents a future vision of Tokyo that includes a mile-high skyscraper

The proposal shows how coastal cities like Tokyo, can adapt for climate change

The residential skyscraper is part of "Next Tokyo 2045," a joint-proposal by the firms for research and developmental purposes. Its intent is to imagine a mega-city that contains resilient infrastructure.

Tokyo, like other vulnerable coastal cities with low-lying elevations, is faced with factors like rising sea levels and increased typhoon risks. The eco-district would be located on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay and developed for a half-million residents.

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"Next Tokyo is a vision for future cities based on challenges we face today," KPF Principal David Malott told CNN. It was important for the design team that the vision be real: that Next Tokyo can be realized utilizing today's technologies projected slightly forward into the future."

Coastal defense strategies

Architectural renderings reveal how the mega-city might address issues like flooding, caused by storm surges. Differently-sized rings (approximately 500 to 5,000 feet in width) shaped like hexagons, are positioned to break up strong waves, while still allowing for ships to pass through. Some doubly function as freshwater reservoirs, others contain urban farming plots.

Wind tunnel tests reveal that vertical slots in the building's design allows for wind to pass through, which lessens the impact felt on the tower

The design, intended to house 55,000 occupants, is a response to urban migration trends that forecast the world's population living in cities to double by 2050. "Next Tokyo explores future urban growth moving upward, rather than outward," the report says.

At that soaring height, design requirements for wind can exceed those for earthquakes -- even, according to the report, in the most earthquake-prone regions of the world. "The tower will naturally have long periods of vibration that will be more readily excited by the wind," the report explains.

After conducting several exploratory wind tunnel tests, a version of the tower that incorporated incremental steps and tapers, could "confuse the wind" -- breaking up large wind vortices which could otherwise amplify the tower's movements. Vertical slots in the tower's design allow the wind to flow through.

The mixed-use residental tower could house up to 55,000 occupants. The tower is broken up by open-air sky decks

Water distribution in a mile-high tower is also a challenge highlighted by the report. "Pumping the water directly from the ground would be very costly and time-consuming."

To solve this, the design uses an articulated facade around the tower's legs to increase the building's surface area -- which helps facilitate cloud harvesting as a water source. Water would then be collected and stored at different levels of the building.

Building up

Tall, supertall, and now megatall buildings -- are on the rise. In January, the completion of 432 Park Avenue in New York marked the world's 100th "supertall" skyscraper -- or those classified by CTBUH as a building over 300 meters (984 feet).

Saudi Arabia's Jeddah Tower, scheduled for completion in 2020, will rise 1-kilometer to the sky.

"Megatall" -- on the other hand, are buildings over 600 meters (1,968 feet) in height. Three buildings -- the Burj Khalifa, the Shanghai Tower, and the Makkah Royal Clock Tower -- fit the bill, but four more are under construction and are set for completion by 2021. They include the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, which will rise 1-kilometer into the sky.